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Yesterday, Apple’s iPhone went on sale in the US and of course the technology blogs and newssites are packed with iPhone-related news. An overview…

- BBC News describes the atmosphere of the launch as ‘It was like the arrival of a rock star’
- Even Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak, stood in line, as SFGate.com reports.
- No, the supply didn’t sell in one day, News.com says.
- Some say it was worth the wait
- And some say it feels like a version 1.0 product
- Of course there are the first reviews, also in video
- And, finally, there are people that want to know all about it, including what’s inside (literally)…

More on the launch of the iPhone? Visit any technology blog or news site or explore Google News: tens of thousands of news items and reviews await you…

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Electronista: LG Mobile unveiled a lower-cost alternative to the Chocolate slider that should offer most of the same features but with a lower price tag.

The KG280 has the same stealthed buttons with a new directional pad, and shares key technical features such as Bluetooth; it also features a high-color screen and three hours of active talk time with 200 hours of standby.

The first version of the phone to ship should be available in Europe and Russia. Pricing is currently unknown but is likely to be dramatically reduced from the 300 Euro price of the original Chocolate when it sold as new.

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Phonemag.com: Plantronics announced the Voyager 520 Bluetooth headset, featuring robust noise-canceling technology for business-quality performance.

The Plantronics Voyager 520 combines a unique noise-canceling microphone and wind-reduction technology for exceptional sound quality, even in distracting outdoor environments. The headset includes Plantronics’ Multipoint technology that enables users to conveniently switch between two Bluetooth devices, such as work and personal mobile phones.

In addition to business-quality sound and comfort, the Plantronics Voyager 520 is simple to use. A multifunction button provides easy one-touch call answer/end and volume up/down support. And Plantronics’ QuickPair technology enables fast, out-of-the-box pairing of the headset with any Bluetooth mobile phone.

The Voyager 520 headset comes bundled with a unique desktop charging cradle. With a single charge, professionals get a full workday’s worth of talk time – up to eight hours of talk time and 180 hours of standby time.

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I4UNews: Toshiba announced today the addition of their largest ever REGZA HD LCD TV and adds that they have increased their market share by 90% in 32-42” LCD HD TVs. Toshiba announced today the availability of their 46”, 47” and 52” REGZA LCD TVs and the upcoming July availability of their largest LCD TV, the 57” Cinema Series.

The REGZA line includes a variety of series from standard to 1080p full HD. All the sets in the line use Toshiba’s PixelPure3G 14-bit internal digital video processing and DynaLight dynamic backlight. The 1080p series also utilizes the ColorBurst wide color gamut CCFL, and the CE-Link HDMI CEC control. Cinema series sets us the ClearFrame 120Hz anti-blur system and Deep Color.

The 120Hz is an important addition, normal HDTV’s run at 60Hz, Toshiba has doubles that frame rate.

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VNUNet: Nokia has launched a photo printing service to allow Nseries users to upload images and place an order directly from their smartphones.

The service requires the free Nokia XpressPrint application to be downloaded to the compatible devices.

Users can select the images in the phone’s gallery application and insert the postal address and other requested information. The order is then processed by CeWe Color and prints (or T-shirts, calendars, mugs and so on) are delivered to the address.

The service is available now and covers most of Europe. More European countries will be added.

Check it out on www.nokia.cewedigital.com.

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AV Zombie: The steering committee of the DVD Forum has now rubber-stamped an agreement with the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center of China, which effectively gives a green light to the creation of an HD DVD variant for China’s local market.

Under the agreement, the country gets a unique version of the HD DVD specification which is close enough to the standard used elsewhere for Chinese makers to develop widely compatible disc players, made inexpensive through huge economies of scale.

It’s unclear yet what the real impact of cheap HD DVD players pouring from Chinese vendors will be, but Universal’s Ken Graffeo believes it could mark a turning point in the hi-def format war. “Hardware drives software. Why do you think they give away the razor? It’s because they want you to buy the blades.”

Inexpensive players are seen as key to broadening the appeal of high def packaged media. Toshiba recently saw its player sales soar by as much as 70% when it dropped the price of its entry-level deck.

Andy Parsons, spokesman for the Blu-ray Disc Association, was less impressed, claiming the ratification of a Chinese HD DVD standard would have little relevance in the worldwide market.

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Guardian Unlimited: MySpace is to take on YouTube’s status as the world’s leading video-sharing website by renaming and relaunching its own service as MySpaceTV.

The video section of MySpace will be given its own web presence, www.myspacetv.com, and built up as a destination in its own right.

Despite being the second biggest video-sharing website behind YouTube, MySpace’s offering has not secured the same sort of profile.

The new standalone website will also incorporate more professionally created content.Last week MySpace signed a deal with Sony for its “minisodes” – five-minute clips of 80s comedies such as Silver Spoons and Diff’rent Strokes.

MySpace TV is also likely to be a distribution channel for programming from the online video joint venture under development by NBC Universal and Fox, part of News Corporation.

The new website will tie in to the profiles created by MySpace users, as well as being accessible to a general online audience.

MySpaceTV is being launched tailored to 15 international territories, which parallel YouTube’s country-specific versions of its video-sharing website.

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BetaNews: Warner Home Video’s answer to the rift in the high-definition DVD industry, will not arrive in the second half of this year as planned, instead reaching the market in 2008. 10-20 movies will be initially offered using the “Total HD” technology, which includes both HD DVD and Blu-ray on a single disc.

Total HD made its official debut at CES 2007, with the promise of sandwiching two data layers atop one another, with each layer capable of being read by its respective player.

Most importantly, a Total HD disc would not need a hybrid player such as the one LG unveiled at CES, and may solve the problem of media retailers having to divide their high-def shelves into separate segments.

Instead of crowding the market with multiple versions of the same movies , Total HD would mean one movie disc for both high-definition formats and, in turn, reduce the required expensive retail shelf space in the process.

The studio says it’s not in a rush to bring Total HD to the market, and will do so only when the technology is ready.

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Newlaunches.com: Microsoft has partnered with AMD and launched another low cost PC in India.

Made by Zenith Computers, the computers are built on AMD platform and are aimed at students from Kindergarten to 12th grade. Priced at 21,000 Indian Rupees (around €380) the PC’s will be preloaded with Windows Vista Basic, Works 2007, Student 2007 and third party software which includes exam preparation, homework help and English-language learning programs.

The 1Q PC will help Microsoft achieve its dream of getting PCs into the hands of the next billion people by 2015.

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Intranetics News: Motorists have been told that they will soon be able to access better traffic information on the go as a result of a new development partnership. This week, telecommunications giant Vodafone UK has confirmed it is to team up with sat nav retailer TomTom to create a new driver information service.

The agreement will see TomTom share its sat nav technology advances with the data solutions expertise of Vodafone. It is hoped that this will ultimately lead to the creation of a new travel time system, which can give drivers minute-by-minute bulletins about how busy roads are and whether it might be advisable to change travel plans.

In theory then, the user will be able to find out if there is a blockage on the road up ahead – helping them to avoid a collision as well as plot alternative routes on their sat nav systems.

The traffic service will be incorporated into the next generation of TomTom sat nav systems.

However, it is not expected that the project will become operational until the first half of next year.

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Forbes.com: Here’s a Friday story for you. While Wal-Mart is known for dropping its prices, one US man took the ad campaign seriously when he dropped the price of a plasma television from $984 (around €730) to $4.88 (around €3.60).

Police arrested the man at the retail store on a charge of felony theft.

According to police reports, the man carried a 42-inch Sanyo Plasma TV to a self-checkout aisle after switching the original price tag of $984 with one for only $4.88 (around €3.60). Loss Prevention officers witnessed the alleged transaction and called police.

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Engadget: Hitachi has announced a fall lineup of plasma and LCD displays, with the main selling point that all of the sets include 1080 lines of vertical resolution (although two of the plasmas offer a stretched 1280 x 1080).

There are ten new HDTVs in all, with a 60-inch (152.4 cm) plasma and two 55-inch (139.7 cm) models, three 50-inch (127 cm) plasma displays, and four LCDs in 47 (119.4 cm)- and 42-inch (106,7 cm) ranges. All models include Hitachi PictureMaster IV or V video processing, and some include a new technique to eliminate judder on 3:2 pulldown called Reel60.

Some models also offer Power Swivel to allow the display to turn up to 30 degrees.

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